Metallic building structures



Dec. 10, 1963 M. KEY, JR 3, 3

METALLIC BUILDING STRUCTURES Filed June 21, 1960 IN VEN TOR. 6 J :1;- 7 MIME/v55 M. AF) 11?.

6 BY 2& Q/ Z4 Patented Dec. 10, 1963 3,113,648 I METALLIC BUILDHNG STRUCTURES Lawrence M. Key, J12, R0. Box 305, Wichita Felts, Tex. Filed .iune 21, 1960, Ser. No. 37,754 3 Claims. (61. 1891) This invention relates to improvements in building construction and more particularly to building structures constructed of pressed or formed channels, which will enable the construction of a sturdy, high strength building with material of comparatively thin gauge, which material is so formed as to utilize the maximum strength thereof.

Various metallic building structures have been proposed heretofore, but these, for the most part, utilized relatively heavy beam sections, whereas the present structure uses metal of gauged thickness to form the various channels, which channels are so formed as to resist bending or distortion.

An object of this invention is to provide a metallic building structure which is so constructed as to give maximum strength from minimum weight material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a building structure which may be readily formed of gauge size sheet metal into component parts, and which component parts may be readily fitted together and assembled, on the job, in a minimum of time.

A further object of the invention is to provide a metallic building structure which is so braced that the formed channel sections thereof will not readily become distorted under heavy loads or strain.

Still another object of this invention is to provide building structural units, which units are so formed as to vary in size mathematically so as to support a given load at the particular section where such load is exerted.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a building which is simple in construction, easy to erect, and which is low in the cost of manufacture.

With these objects in mind and others which will become manifest as the description proceeds, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts in the several views thereof, in which;

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view through the superstructure of the building structure, showing parts thereof in section, and parts as being broken away to bring out the details of construction, and showing the beams thickened and widened to enable the details of the building structure to be more clearly shown;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a por tion of the superstructure of the building, with portions being broken away to bring out the details of construction;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view taken approximately on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, sectional View taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, and with parts being broken away, and with parts being shown in section to bring out the details of construction;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view of a modified form of joint structure, from that shown in FIG. 1.

With more detailed reference to the drawing, the numeral 1 designated a base or foundation, which may be made of concrete, wood or other suitable foundation material on which the building is to be erected. The numeral 2 designates generally the building support structural members, which comprise upright standards 4 and truss components 6, each of which upright standards and each of which truss components 6 has a transverse plate 5 and 7 disposed on the respective distal ends thereof. The form of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, shows that the upright standards 4 are secured to the truss structure components 6, as by welding, as indicated at 8. The upright standards 4 are formed of pressed steel channels having legs 10 and a web 12. Further outturned legs or flanges 14 extend outward on each side of legs 11) so as to further stiffen and stabilize the section against bending, twisting or buckling.

It is preferable to have the web 12 of uniform width throughout the length thereof, however, the legs 10 are parallel, with the width diverging toward the point of greatest strain, with the width being proportionate to the calculated load to be exerted thereon or resisted by the upright standards 4. Plates 16, which are gauge thickness, are of the width of the channels including the width of the flanges 14 of the upright standards 4, and are secured to the out-turned flanges 14, as by spot welding, in the manner shown in FIG. 2. The plates 16 and outturned flanges 14 have registering apertures formed there through to enable the bolting of stringers or purlin's 18 thereonto, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5. The stringers or purlins are of channeled section, the construction of which will be brought out more in detail hereinafter. Apertured lugs 29 are secured along the side of legs 10 of upright standards 4, as by welding, so as to receive stringers or purlins 18 between lugs 20 and flanges 14-. The stringers or purlins 18 are apertured near the ends thereof so the respective apertures will register with the apertures in flanges 14 and lugs 20, so bolts 22 may be utilized to bolt the stringers or purlins thereto.

The stringers 18 are of channel section, which has a web portion 24, legs 26 and inturned flanges 28, which gives a very strong section, even though the members 18 are formed of light weight material. It is preferable to turn the open side of channels of the stringers or purlin's 18 downward, as will best be seen in FIG. 1, so as to prevent catching material, such as grai'n, therein, if the building is used as a grain warehouse.

It is preferable to have reinforcing channel members 29 fitted within upright standards 4, at spaced intervals along the length of upright standards 4, so that the web of the channel will be in approximately aligned relation with the web of the stringers or purlins 18, so as to transfer the end thrust therethrough to minimize the hazard of bending or crushing upright standards 4, due to the longitudinal thrust of stringers or purlins 18, thereby gaining the efliciency and strength of a much heavier structural member, with a fraction of the weight thereof.

The channels 29 are secured to the legs 10 of upright standards 4, as by spot welding, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, so as to maintain the channels in fixed relation therein, and with the plates 16 secured to the upright standards 4 at the point of attachment of stringers or purlins 18, members are provided which are of such strength as to transfer the load to the upright standards in such manner as not to distort the standard at the point of connection of the stringers or purlins.

The upright standards 4 together with the truss components 6 are of channel construction and have outturned flanges 14 on the outer ends of the respective legs 10, the open part of which channels 'f'ace outward. By having the upright standards 4 and the truss components 6 of this construction, these may be made of gauge material, which usually varies from fourteen to eighteen gauge in thickness, depending on the length of the re spective members. Relatively thin plates of gauge thickness are attached to the out-turned flanges 14, as by spot welding, to hold the flanges 14 in spaced apart relation and to reinforce the respective members at these particular points, thereby enabling the stringers or purlins 18 to be attached thereto as by bolts, so that the ends of the stringers or purlins will be in abutting relation with the respective legs 10 of the channels which form standards 4 and truss components 6, with the exterior edge of the stringers or purlins 18 being in abutting relation with the inner face of the respective flanges 14. In this manner the inner face of the wall sheeting 30 may be attached to the upright standards 4, truss components 6, and stringers or purlins 18 in the conventional manner. However, the sheeting will lie in close fitting relation with respect to the upright standards 4, truss components 6, and stringers or purlins 18, so there will be no material evidence of unevenness in the Wall sheeting attached thereto. The wall sheeting 30, as well as the roof sheeeting 32 is fastened to the stringers or purlins 18 in a conventional manner, such as by the use of metal screws, purlin nails or the like.

The respective upright standards 4 and the respective truss components 6 diverge progressively toward their common juncture, with the Widest portion of the respective members being at the line of juncture, and are welded together, as indicated at 8, in FIG. 1. The truss components 6 are of the same structure as the upright standards 4, but are inversely arranged, however, the adjacent ends of the truss components 6 are bolted together so as to form an abridging truss between upright standards 4, as will best be seen from FIG. 1. The construction of the truss or roof supporting components 6 is similar to that of the upright standards 4, and the same numbers are used for corresponding parts on the upright standards 4 and on the truss components, as a matter of uniformity and clearness. The stringers or purlins 18, which extend between the upright standards 4, are the same length and have the same hole punching as the stringers or purlins which extend between the truss or roof supporting components 6. Therefore the construction and erection of the building is greatly simplified, as the stringers between the upright standards 4 are identical with the purlins which extend between the truss or roof support compo nents 6 and are therefore interchangeable. With a building thus constructed, it is possible to have the framework of only two components, that is the building support structural members 2 comprising the upright standards 4 and the truss components 6, which are welded together as indicated at 8.

In the form of the invention as shown in FIG. 8, the structure is identical with the form as shown in FIGS. 1 through 7, except apertured plates 41 are welded to the respective adjacent ends of the upright standards 44 of roof components 46, so that the plates 41 may be secured together by means of bolts 42. In this manner the upright standards 44 and truss components 46 may be assembled at the place of erection, thereby requiring less shipping and storage space for these elements, furthermore, the respective distal ends of the upright standards 44 and of the truss components 46 have plates 5 and 7 respectively welded thereon, in the same manner as the plates 5 and 7 which are shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, thereby enabling the bolting of the upright standards 44 to the foundation and the bolting of the adjacent ends of the truss components 46 together to form a truss similar to the truss shown in FIG. 1.

The upright standards 44 and the truss components 46, as shown in this form of invention are similar in construction and utilize stringers or purlins 18 in the same manner as for the form of invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 7. However, in either form of the invention, the upright standards may be of a length to give the walls of the building the correct height, and the truss components are of a length to give the truss the correct span. However, by keeping the units on a standard basis, a minimum of different structural pieces will be required, which enables the components of the building to be constructed at a lower cost in the shop and with fewer dies, tools and jigging than is required for other buildings, and standardization enables the erection of the building in the field by relatively unskilled labor, and in much less time than would be required for a conventional building which requires many different parts.

While two forms of building construction have been shown as being illustrative of the construction possibilities, it is to be understood that changes may be made in the minor details of construction and adaptations made to different building sites and requirements without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus clearly shown and described the invention,

what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A metallic building structure comprising; transversely spaced apart pairs of upright channel standards each having an outwardly facing open throat, each said channel standard having an out-turned flange on the outer side of each leg thereof, a base plate secured on the lower end of each said upright channel standard, each which base plate is apertured, relatively thin, spaced apart, flat plates secured to each said upright channel standard on the outer face thereof, said upright channel standards each having a greater transverse width at the respective upper ends thereof than at the lower ends thereof, a further channel complementally secured to the upper ends of the respective upright channel standards so as to form roof support components, the angle of which, with respect to the upright channel standards, is obtuse, said roof support components having the respective ends thereof remote from the juncture with said upright channel standards of less Width and complementary, complementary plates secured to the said respective adjacent ends of said roof support components which plates are complementally apertured, bolt means securing said apertured plates together on said adjacent ends of said roof support components, each said roof support component having an outwardly facing open throat, each said roof support component having an out-turned flange on the outer side of each leg thereof, relatively thin, spaced apart, flat plates secured to the upper face of each said roof support component and having the flat faces of said relatively thin, spaced apart flat plates parallel with the outer faces of said out-turned flanges, channel shaped reinforcing means bridging between the legs of the respective channels of said upright channel standards and between the legs of the respective roof support components, said legs of said channel reinforcing means secured to said respective legs of said upright channel standards and to the legs of said roof support components, said respective channel shaped reinforcing means being immediately inward from said relatively thin, spaced apart fiat plates so said channel reinforcing means within said first mentioned channels will resist distortion upon application of thrust at the respective points where said channel shaped reinforcing means and said relatively thin plates are secured, and fastening lugs secured to said upright channel standards and to said roof support component, longitudinal stringers each having an end secured to one of said fastening lugs on the opposite longitudinal faces of said upright channel standards and said roof support components, which longitudinal stringers are in transverse, spaced apart relation and in end-to-end aligned relation on said upright channel standards and said roof support components.

2. A metallic building structure as defined in claim 1; wherein each upright channel standard has an apertured plate on the upper end thereof, and wherein each roof support component has a complementally apertured plate secured to the end thereof adjacent said apertured plate on the upper end of each said upright channel standard, and bolt means securing said roof support component and said upright channel standard together.

3. A metallic building structure as defined in claim 1; wherein said longitudinal stringers are each spaced in wardly from the outer faces of said upright channel standards and said roof support components.

1,599,335 Levens Sept. 7, 1926 6 Lathrop May 24, 1938 Buelow Mar. 18, 1941 Stolz May 4, 194-3 J'aynes Oct. 19, 1954 Hield Dec. 10, 1957 Burgin Apr. 29, 1958 Simpson Feb. 3, 1959 Colby June 20, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Jan. 7, 1953 

1. A METALLIC BUILDING STRUCTURE COMPRISING; TRANSVERSELY SPACED APART PAIRS OF UPRIGHT CHANNEL STANDARDS EACH HAVING AN OUTWARDLY FACING OPEN THROAT, EACH SAID CHANNEL STANDARD HAVING AN OUT-TURNED FLANGE ON THE OUTER SIDE OF EACH LEG THEREOF, A BASE PLATE SECURED ON THE LOWER END OF EACH SAID UPRIGHT CHANNEL STANDARD, EACH WHICH BASE PLATE IS APERTURED, RELATIVELY THIN, SPACED APART, FLAT PLATES SECURED TO EACH SAID UPRIGHT CHANNEL STANDARD ON THE OUTER FACE THEREOF, SAID UPRIGHT CHANNEL STANDARDS EACH HAVING A GREATER TRANSVERSE WIDTH AT THE RESPECTIVE UPPER ENDS THEREOF THAN AT THE LOWER ENDS THEREOF, A FURTHER CHANNEL COMPLEMENTALLY SECURED TO THE UPPER ENDS OF THE RESPECTIVE UPRIGHT CHANNEL STANDARDS SO AS TO FORM ROOF SUPPORT COMPONENTS, THE ANGLE OF WHICH, WITH RESPECT TO THE UPRIGHT CHANNEL STANDARDS, IS OBTUSE, SAID ROOF SUPPORT COMPONENTS HAVING THE RESPECTIVE ENDS THEREOF REMOTE FROM THE JUNCTURE WITH SAID UPRIGHT CHANNEL STANDARDS OF LESS WIDTH AND COMPLEMENTARY, COMPLEMENTARY PLATES SECURED TO THE SAID RESPECTIVE ADJACENT ENDS OF SAID ROOF SUPPORT COMPONENTS WHICH PLATES ARE COMPLEMENTALLY APERTURED, BOLT MEANS SECURING SAID APERTURED PLATES TOGETHER ON SAID ADJACENT ENDS OF SAID ROOF SUPPORT COMPONENTS, EACH SAID ROOF SUPPORT COMPONENTS HAVING AN OUTWARDLY FACING OPEN THROAT, EACH SAID ROOF SUPPORT COMPONENT HAVING AN OUT-TURNED FLANGE ON THE OUTER SIDE OF EACH LEG THEREOF, RELATIVELY THIN, SPACED APART, FLAT PLATES SECURED TO THE UPPER FACE OF EACH SAID ROOF SUPPORT COMPONENT AND HAVING THE FLAT FACES OF SAID RELATIVELY THIN, SPACED APART FLAT PLATES PARALLEL WITH THE OUTER FACES OF 